'Ignorance And Hatred'
L
eaders of Presbyterian Church
(USA) voted June 20 at its bien-
nial general assembly in Detroit
to divest from Caterpillar, Hewlett-
Packard and Motorola Solutions, all
companies that do business with Israel.
Local Jewish organizations fought to
prevent the BDS victory. A joint state-
ment in reaction to the vote was issued
by the Detroit Jewish Federation and
Jewish Community Relations Council,
the Michigan Board of Rabbis, and the
local offices of the Anti-Defamation
League and American Jewish
Committee.
"The General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church (USA) took a step
Friday that will undermine the path
to peace, do nothing to relieve the
suffering of Palestinians and Israelis,
and promote continued violence in the
Middle East:' the statement said.
"That step was to decide to divest
the church's investments in three
American companies because of their
sales to Israel. The decision reflects
both ignorance and hatred: ignorance
on the part of those delegates who cast
their votes without understanding the
facts and complexity of the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict, and hatred on
the part of a cadre of radicals within
their denomination pursuing an anti-
Israel and — for some — anti-Semitic
agenda.
"While PCUSA leaders claim they
have not endorsed the global boycott
divest and sanction (BDS) movement,
their decision to adopt a central BDS
tactic — combined with their vote for
the church to review its position on a
two-state solution — has the practical
effect of supporting a campaign that
aims at the destruction of Israel: the
statement said.
"Detroit's Jewish community recog-
nizes that this profoundly misguided
decision by PCUSAs national leader-
ship does not reflect the views of our
friends and neighbors in the pews
who strongly support a strong bond
between Presbyterians and Jews and
between the U.S. and Israel. We are
confident they and we will continue
working together to preserve our rela-
tionship and to promote peace in the
Middle East:'
'Ironic Decision'
Kobi Erez, executive director of the
Zionist Organization of America-
Michigan Region, also weighed in.
"Congratulations to the Presbyterian
Church — you just divested from the
only country in the Middle East that
FOR U.S. CONGRESS
allows Christians to practice freely:'
Erez said.
"It's ironic that this decision was
made while Israel is looking for three
of its teenagers who were kidnapped
by the terror group Hamas.
"I applaud the Jewish Federation
and other members of our community
in their effort to prevent the church
from divesting from Israel; our unity is
our strength:' Erez said.
"There is a debate whether anti-
Semitism was involved in the church's
decision to hurt Israel's economy.
Here is what Canada's Prime Minister
Stephen Harper had to say about the
boycotting of Israel:
"'This is the face of the new anti-
Semitism. It targets the Jewish people
by targeting Israel and attempts to
make the old bigotry acceptable for a
new generation:"
What Effect?
Because the PCUSA is one of America's
smallest Christian denominations and
has a sharply declining membership
base, does this decision matter?
When compared to largely pro-Israel
Evangelical Christians, who constitute
more than a quarter of Americans, it
would appear the PCUSAs influence is
limited.
"When you don't have the moral
clarity to denounce an anti-Semitic
diatribe such as [its study guide]
Zionism Unsettled, then something is
clearly wrong; said David Brog, execu-
tive director of Christians United for
Israel (CUFI).
"The leadership of the PCUSA is
out of touch with the membership
in the pews:' he said. "And this is
also one reason why the number of
Presbyterians seeking to work with
CUFI has been on the rise
Nevertheless, Dexter Van
Zile, Christian media analyst for
the Committee for Accuracy in
Middle East Reporting in America
(CAMERA), fears PCUSAs actions
could spark anti-Israel divestment
measures in other Protestant sects.
"It might spark another round of
resolutions in other mainline church-
es. I've seen, for example, a group
of activists in the United Church of
Christ (UCC) who have modeled their
organization after the Israel/Palestine
Mission Network in the PCUSA. This
group might think they can win in the
UCC's General Synod next year:' he
said.
❑
INS.org contributed to this report.
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